Shortfall Forces Vo-tech Center To Curtail Classes

January 19, 1986|By Carolyn Cox of The Sentinel Staff

EUSTIS — In response to financial pressures on the school district from a shortfall in state funds, the Lake County Area Vocational-Technical Center is curtailing most part-time classes that do not have an enrollment of at least 12.

As of Friday, the vo-tech center was forced to delay the opening of 39 of 81 part-time classes scheduled to begin last week. About one-third, or 239 of the 629 students who had signed up for those classes and could not be placed in others were putting on waiting lists, said center director Maxine Felts.

''We hope enrollment will increase to the point where those courses can be offered at a later date,'' Felts said.

Jack Millican, director of vocational, technical and adult education for Lake County, set the class minimum of 12 students because that number will generate about enough state funds to pay for each class.

Some classes, however, will not have to meet the minimum of 12 because of equipment limitations and safety requirements. Felts cited a word-processing class, for which the school has 10 word processors, and automotive mechanics as examples of classes that would continue to function with fewer than 12 students.

The effect on students is not as serious as it may be in a full-time class because enrollment is open-ended in part-time classes. That means students can enroll at any time during the period the class is offered and work at their own pace.

''We will attempt to serve all the students,'' Felts said. ''In some cases we're combining classes or delaying the beginning of a class.''

If enough students sign up for a class that couldn't begin last week because of the size requirements, it could begin this week or the next, she said.

Millican, at a meeting of the school's citizen advisory committee Thursday night, said the enrollment minimums are ''not the end of the world. We've got a good center here. We've got a good program and we're going to get this in line with everybody's help.''

He was referring to figures presented by county finance director Warren Bishop that show the county is spending much more on adult vocational education than it receives in state funds, in some cases more than 100 percent.

Bishop accompanied Millican to the meeting to discuss the financial situation. The school district will receive $1.4 million less than expected in state funds this year.

While money set aside in the budget for reserves will absorb part of that loss, Bishop said the district

could face an overall loss of more than $1 million in state funds.

Superintendent Freddie Garner has placed a freeze on non-essential hiring and spending for supplies to help make up that loss. Bishop also has pointed out that overspending by the school district on adult vocational classes accounted for more than half a million dollars during fiscal 1984-85.

The spending and hiring freeze will last until the end of February, when the school district will receive an updated report from the state that will show how much money the district will receive for the remainder of fiscal 1985-86. The fiscal year ends June 30.

If the school district generates enough money to

make up the loss during the February-June period, the freeze will be lifted. If it doesn't, Garner and Bishop will take steps to see that the school district does not go into the red.

The minimum class size requirement at the vo-tech center, however, is a permanent measure unless administrators change their minds.

Felts expects to meet with school district administrators next week to propose further ways the vo-tech center can reduce expenses.

Bishop, who joined the school district in July, says spending on adult vocational programs has been allowed to exceed school district income for those programs for a number of years.

Most of the problems, he said, come when classes are too small to generate enough money to pay teachers' salaries. When that happens, other areas of the budget are tapped into to cover the cost.

''I keep hearing there's a need for a reading program,'' he said. ''I keep hearing there's a need for a dropout prevention program, and there isn't any money. That's where the money is.''

Although Bishop said adult vocational programs are the biggest culprit in draining ''more than their fair share'' from the district's funding, there are others that are being identified and will be tackled.

''A balanced budget is just that,'' he said. ''Each piece of the budget bears its relative proportion to the total. Once you start overspending in each of these various areas, what you do is force yourself into a strange area.''